This application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-117352 filed on Apr. 19, 2000, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a pen-based entry electronic device to which a keyboard can be detachably fitted.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventionally, various arrangements are known that permit a keyboard to be detachably fitted to the body of an electronic device. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. S61-235922 discloses an arrangement in which a control device chassis and an input device chassis are provided with a coupling member that permits them to engage with each other so that the control device chassis and the input device chassis can be detachably fitted together. That is, this prior-art document discloses a connector arrangement that permits a keyboard to be detachably fitted to the body of an electronic device.
On the other hand, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H3-176714 discloses an arrangement including a keyboard type identifying device that identifies the type of a keyboard and a signal path switching device that switches the path of the data fed from the keyboard according to the type of the keyboard identified by the keyboard type identifying device. That is, this prior-art document discloses an arrangement that permits a plurality of keyboards to be connected to a single data processing device (e.g. a personal computer).
In a conventional pen-based entry electronic device, entry of commands and data is achieved by the use of a data entry pen (stylus) that comes along with the body of the electronic device, i.e. through hand writing and touching on a keyboard screen using the pen. However, in recent years, as personal computers prevail, an increasing number people familiar with keyboard-based entry have been expressing a demand for keyboard-based entry capability even with pen-based entry electronic devices. In such cases, it is customary to permit keyboard-based entry by connecting an optional keyboard to a pen-based entry electronic device via a cable.
However, the arrangement of the conventional pen-based entry electronic device described just above, and also the arrangement disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H3-176714 mentioned above, simply connects the keyboard to the body of the electronic device by the use of a connector or the like, and thus gives no consideration to integrating the body of the electronic device and the keyboard together. On the other hand, the arrangement disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. S61-235922 mentioned above does give consideration to integrating the body of the electronic device and the keyboard together, but requires the provision of a special connector arrangement, which makes the overall scale of the electronic device unduly large.
An object of the present invention is to provide a pen-based entry electronic device that, despite having a simple structure, permits a keyboard to be not only detachably fitted thereto but also readily integrated therewith.
To achieve the above object, according to the present invention, a pen-based entry electronic device is provided with a body having a holder portion for holding a pen that is carried along with the body and a keyboard having an engagement portion that engages with the holder portion. The body and the keyboard are connected together electrically via a connection cable. Alternatively, the body and the keyboard are connected together electrically via infrared communication. Alternatively, the holder portion and the engagement portion are each provided with connection terminals so that, when the engagement portion engages with the holder portion, the connection terminals make contact with each other to connect the body and the keyboard together electrically.